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52 • FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • MARCH 2018
T
he so-called plant-forward
movement in the food industry
is — forgive the expression —
growing like a weed. Vegetarian,
vegan and vegetable-centric concepts are
rubbing shoulders with burger, pizza and
chicken restaurants on lists of hot new
emerging chains. Celebrity chefs from Jose
Andres and Richard Landau to Matthew
Kennedy, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and
Yotam Ottolenghi keep launching big-buzz
veggie-centric restaurants. Others, such
as Eric Ripert at New York's Le Bernardin,
winner of multiple Michelin Stars, show-
case artfully composed vegetable tasting
menus alongside more traditional menus.
Ripert cites the growing demand for meat-
less options and the creative challenge of
high-end vegetable cookery as key drivers
for the veggie additions.
Noncommercial trendsetters such
as Yale, Stanford, Harvard, University of
Massachusetts-Amherst, Google, Microsoft
and Bon Appétit Management continue to
implement innovative plant-based menu
platforms that strongly resonate with
younger consumers' concerns about health
and sustainability. With excess consump-
tion of red meat, in particular, directly tied
to critical health issues (coronary disease,
cancer, obesity, diabetes) and environmen-
tal damage (beef production generates
more greenhouse gasses, according to
environmental groups), these and many
other noncommercial leaders increasingly
weave both human and planetary health
into menu-planning strategies.
Behind the scenes, major food
manufacturers have also put stakes in
plant-based protein startups, bringing
resources and scalability to the category.
Announcements abound regarding
better-burger operators, among others,
adding different brands of plant-based
burgers to menus, with beet and pea
protein alternatives now in the mix of
beef-replacement options.
The trend made appearances on
several 2018 lists: Whole Foods Market
named plant-based proteins as a top
food trend for 2018; vegetable-forward/
veggie-centric cuisine took the No. 5
spot on the National Restaurant Associa-
tion's list of What's Hot for 2018; and the
Specialty Foods Association's Trendspot-
ter panel ranks plant-based foods No. 1
on its list of 2018 trends.
BEEFY BLENDS
Even the beefiest of restaurant concepts
continue to take note. Last December,
McDonald's made the new McVegan soy-
based burger an official menu addition
at several hundred units across Sweden
and Finland, following tests that proved
demand was strong and customer
response was positive. Developed in
partnership with an Oslo, Norway-based
manufacturer, the burger's toppings
include tomato, lettuce, pickles, onion,
ketchup, mustard, oil and an egg-free
sandwich sauce. McDonald's has said
that it will evaluate further McVegan
rollouts on a country-by-country basis.
Last fall, Sonic Drive-In became the first
national U.S. quick-service burger chain to
begin testing a blended beef and mush-
room (25 percent to 30 percent) burger, try-
ing a tactic that many in the plant-forward
movement hope will gain traction as a way
to begin weaning consumers off high-fat,
high-carbon-footprint animal proteins.
Operators including Compass Group USA
and Sodexo are participating, as well, with
their own blended burger menu introduc-
tions. Sodexo, for instance, partnered with
the Mushroom Council in 2016 to create
The Blend burger, now served in more
than 250 participating K-12 school districts
nationwide.
And many operations, commercial
and noncommercial alike, continue to
work toward introducing menu items
such as salads and entrees that con-
sist mainly of vegetables, pulses and/
or grains, with small portions of meat
used as flavor-enhancing garnishes or
optional add-ons.